Running of the Wario
by CielFury
Summary: Luigi and Daisy go out on a date, leaving Mario, Peach, and Yoshi to go back to one of their first minigames…with a certain trickster. As requested by ashtione! Sequel to Blast Off and Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever. Based on Mario Party 1's minigame Running of the Bulb.


**I do not own anything from Nintendo.**

* * *

After Wario, who was now in Rosalina's clinic, had been soundly beaten by the combined efforts of Mario, Peach, and Daisy, it was time to gather their courage for their next minigame.

"Well, what-a shall we play next?" asked Mario, as he, his brother, and the two princesses sat on the grass.

"Can it PLEASE be something that's not lethal?" moaned Peach; her favorite dress had been reduced to ashes after the Bowser head's explosion.

"I agree," said Mario, his head still hurting. He turned to his brother. "What do you think?"

"Well…" Luigi blushed, not knowing how to voice his thoughts. "Actually, I, um, well, you see…the thing is, I – "

"Luigi and I are going out on a date."

"WHAT?" Mario and Peach exclaimed, turning to look at the flower princess, who didn't look remotely embarrassed. Daisy shrugged.

"Well, we thought it might be a good idea for us to take a break. Besides, we should let some of our other friends play too!"

"Hmmm…you've got a point," Mario pondered. "We should invite some other people, we haven't seen them for a while. Well, have fun on your date! Hope it goes well – you okay, Luigi?" He had noticed his younger brother turning a more violent shade of red.

"That was supposed to be a secret," Luigi muttered, whose face now precisely matched the shade of Mario's shirt and cap.

"Awww! Well, the secret's out of the bag now! I'm sure it'll be fun, especially with Daisy – wait a minute…" Peach trailed off slowly, looking around at her yellow counterpart, who was trying (and failing) to mask a mischievous smile. "You're not planning anything bad, are you?"

"What? Bad? ME?!" said Daisy, still trying not to smile. "Why would you EVER think of something like that?"

Mario and Peach looked at each other, then quickly turned away. They hadn't quite forgotten their first foray into a lethal minigame and weren't likely to forget anytime soon. They glared at Daisy.

"Ah, whatever. Come on Luigi, let's go!"

"HEY! Watch the shirt!" And with that, Daisy pulled the still-blushing Luigi away from the group and disappeared into a Warp Pipe.

"Oh, great…she'll kill him…"

"Aaaah, don't worry about it. Luigi can handle her," said Mario confidently. He suddenly frowned. "…I think."

"Well, we're two short now, so unless we do a Duel minigame, we'll have to wait for them to return."

"Yeah, you're right…Let's ask around!"

* * *

They wandered all over the Mushroom Kingdom, seeing if any of their other friends could join them for a round or two. Yoshi was happily available, and answered with his trademark cry of "YOSHI!" However, not everyone was happily available.

DK had gone off with Diddy in search again of their missing banana hoard. Mario had snarkily replied that even Bowser wasn't that stupid to let his prized possessions go missing all the time and DK had responded with a charged-up DK Punch. It had taken Mario a while to recover from that.

Bowser's minions (Koopa Kid, Boo, Dry Bones, Koopa, Shy Guy, Kamek, and Junior) were off hiding somewhere – and presumably cowering in fear. They had been openly discussing their next plan of attack on Peach's castle, which Peach had overheard and had threatened them with her frying pan. That had sent everyone, including Mario (who hadn't quite forgotten Peach's frying-pan-in-the-face attack in Toadstool Titan), scurrying for cover.

The rest of their friends had made other, more pleasant plans. Toad and Toadette were off sightseeing in Isle Delfino, Birdo was enjoying tea with a bunch of Snifits, and (fortunately) Waluigi was tending to his new Piranha Plant garden.

Exhausted, Mario flopped onto his back once they were back in front of the clinic. "Great!" he said, annoyed. "We've got three players but we can't play a minigame…I suppose we'll wait for Luigi and Daisy to come back and then I'll just sit out – "

"No." Peach had a strange look on her face. "We haven't asked everybody."

"What? Yes we have! Unless you're not counting Wario, because he's in the clinic – wait, WHAT?!" Mario looked around at Peach. "You want us to INVITE him? After what he did to us?!"

"We'll manage him! It'll be three against one if he turns on us. Besides, I'd feel bad forcing someone else to come along…"

"You can't be serious! Why didn't you just bribe Boo or someone else to join us?!"

Peach giggled. "Do I look like a bribing person?"

_It wouldn't hurt to start learning,_ thought Mario, thinking that it might be useful in negotiating with Bowser if he tried to kidnap her again.

Peach sighed. "Look, I'd hate to wait around doing nothing. Why don't we just take him along just this once? Let's give him a second chance. Maybe he'll have learned his lesson."

Mario sighed. "I doubt it…but whatever. Fine, let's ask. We'll tell Yoshi to meet us at whatever minigame we decide upon."

Peach smiled. "I've got the PERFECT one…but let's talk to Wario first."

* * *

"Owww…my head!" Wario was still in the clinic, cowering from the pain the red plumber and the two princesses had dealt him. "Stupid Mario! That fireball at the end was unnecessary! It singed me! SINGED me, I say!"

"And you'll get much WORSE than a singeing if you're not nice this time!" said an angry voice.

Mario had appeared in the doorway, holding two large fireballs and glowering angrily at Wario.

"WAHHHHHHH! MAMA! HELP ME!" Wario screamed as he drew his sheets over his head.

"That's enough, Mario."

"But – "

"MARIO!"

"…Oh, fine." The fireballs disappeared and Wario lowered his sheets. The pink princess was standing right next to him.

"PEACH! Thank goodness! Finally, a voice of reason – ACK!" Peach had just grabbed Wario by his collar and drew him up to her level. "What?! What'd I do?!"

"Listen to me very carefully," said Peach dangerously. Mario hastily took a step back.

_She's scary when she's angry…_

"What you did in that last minigame was horrible and nasty, and I will NOT stand for that type of behavior," Peach seethed, her blue eyes shining coldly. Wario gulped. "We will ask you to participate in a minigame of my choosing. I hope you've learned your lesson. Because if you haven't…" Her eyes glinted dangerously as she put her face closer to Wario's. "That beating you received? That was a warm-up compared to what might happen. You understand?"

"Okay, okay, I get it!" said Wario, waving his arms frantically in apparent understanding. Peach let go and he flopped back onto the bed. "I'll play in your minigame, I'll cooperate, I promise!"

"Excellent, then," said Peach, straightening up. "Because this minigame requires skill, technique, the ability to brave the paranormal, precision…and most of all, TEAMWORK," she said with delicate stress on the last word.

Mario frowned. He thought he knew what Peach was getting at. There was only one minigame that really met the criteria, and it dated back to their first party. "Peach, are you talking about…"

"Yes, I am. I already called Yoshi, he's waiting for us there. Now let's go!" Peach turned on her heel, walked out of the clinic, and jumped into the Warp Pipe. Wario watched her go, then breathed a sigh of relief.

"Phew! What a relief! I thought she might smoke me, but WAHAHA! She wouldn't dare – "

"No, but I would."

Wario started. He had completely forgotten that Mario was still in the room. The red plumber's hands were ablaze again.

"Uh, right, right! Just…just an expression, is all…well, see you later!" Before Mario could make a move, Wario sprinted out of his bed and jumped into the Warp Pipe. Mario, shaking his head at Peach's ability to readily forgive people, soon followed suit.

* * *

The three players soon found themselves in a cold, dim, slightly damp room that resembled a long basement. It was completely empty, except for…

"YOSHI!" Mario cried.

"YOSHI!" Peach cried.

"YOSHI!" Yoshi cried.

The three turned and looked at Wario expectantly.

"Erm, alright…YOSHI!" Wario cried, clearly unenthusiastic. Not happy at this "exclamation," Yoshi rushed forward and ate Wario whole.

"HEY! What the heck?! Get me outta here!" Wario yelled, squirming inside the dinosaur's mouth.

"Release him, Yoshi." Peach glared sternly at Yoshi.

"…Yoshi…" Without warning, Yoshi spat Wario back out, who was now covered in saliva.

"Oh, THAT was disgusting…"

"Hmmm?" Mario looked up – a large, glowing lightbulb fell from the ceiling. He barely managed to catch it. "What's this for?"

"Don't you remember?" Peach inquired. "We've got to work together to put this lightbulb back in its socket at the end of this basement!"

"Ah, now I remember…but there's no one else here!"

"Yoshi!" Yoshi nodded his head in agreement.

"There will be soon! We've got to get past the enemies that appear, or else we all lose!"

"Well, isn't THAT just grand and dandy!" Wario sarcastically replied. "Look at all of us talking about fluffy things like TEAMWORK! I'll just let Fatso-with-the-Bulb here do all the work – ARGH!" Peach hit him upside the head. "What was that for?!"

"Don't you EVER insult Mario like that again!" Peach seethed. "You'll cooperate with us this time or face the punishment!"

But Wario had had enough – he wasn't about to be dragged along on this stupid hunt, no matter how bad Peach's "threat" seemed to be. "Oh, PLEASE, like you can do anything worse than – "

"Uh oh! We've got company!" Mario warned, pointing straight ahead. Suddenly, a dozen large Boos materialized in front of him, all with menacing faces. "LET'S SCRAM!" The four pushed ahead of the blockade, trying to avoid the paranormal enemies.

"Whatever you do, don't let them touch the bulb!" Peach yelled, narrowly sidestepping a Boo.

"Mama mia, I'm trapped! Peach, CATCH!" Mario threw the bulb to Peach, who caught it. Unfortunately, Mario was now surrounded by a horde of Boos that were slowly advancing on him.

"…Yoshi?! YOSHI!" Yoshi tried to eat the Boos, but to no avail; even worse, his body gained a ghostly white-blue aura.

"Oh no! Yoshi's been possessed!" Peach cried. Yoshi began moving slowly towards her, intent on taking the bulb. Mario soon found himself possessed as well, and moved towards the princess. "Someone help me!" She was surrounded with no way out. "AHHHHHHH!"

"TAKE THAT!" a surly voice said.

"…Huh?" Wario knocked Yoshi and Mario upside the head – and soon they had regained their true selves.

"Geez, you can't even save YOURSELVES! You've gotta attack the Boos! Swallowing them or cowering in fear ain't gonna do us any good if we're gonna win!"

Peach looked astonished as Wario began punching the Boos away. "You mean you're going to – "

"HAH! Don't think I'm gonna join your little pity party here! I'm gonna win!"

"…Whatever. Mario! Yoshi! Punch those Boos' lights out!" More Boos started to materialize in place of the vanished ones, each one more menacing than the last. Peach, with her swiftness, easily sidestepped all the Boos that came after her and the bulb, while the other three went to working on get rid of the specters.

"Well, this isn't too bad!" Peach said airily. "At least there's nothing else bad waiting for us – "

"PEACH, LOOK OUT!" Mario cried. The princess looked up – a Thwomp was about to crush her! She screamed and threw the bulb in a random direction; Wario managed to catch it, while Mario picked her up and carried her out of harm's way. The Thwomp descended a moment later; this time, Yoshi was successful in eating the enemy.

"Oh…thanks Mario…" She kissed him on the cheek, making him turn red. Wario mimed vomiting, but stopped abruptly as Yoshi threatened to eat him again.

"What?! I can't have my fun?!"

"Yoshi!" Yoshi shook his head. "Yoshi Yoshi Yoshi!"

"Er…can somebody explain what Dino Breath just said here?"

"He was saying," Mario started, putting Peach down and still red in the face, "that maybe you should redirect your negative energy into more positivity."

"WHAT?! What utter Goomba poop! How do you know what he's saying?!"

"YOSHI!" Yoshi jumped up and down, apparently in agreement of Mario's translation.

"Wario, you helped us back there. See what happens when you help each other out instead of hindering them? More things get done!" added Peach, smiling. "Wouldn't you agree?"

"…I guess…" Wario mumbled, shifting his feet. He didn't like being wrong; he felt stupid.

"Come on, Wario," Peach said, extending a hand. "Let's finish this minigame together, what do you say?"

"…" Wario was silent for a moment, then made up his mind. "Oh, alright, I guess…" He extended a pudgy hand toward Peach, who made to take it.

"…IN YOUR DREAMS!" Grinning, Wario facepalmed Peach, who cried and stumbled backward, clutching her face. Yoshi and Mario made to help her; Wario stuck out his tongue at the trio, who were all shooting daggers at him.

"Later on, losers! I'm gonna win this all by myself! I'm greedy, spoiled, and rotten, and ain't nobody gonna change that about me!" Wario cried cheerfully, still holding the bulb and making his way toward the light socket. "You guys make me SICK! Seriously! All that stuff about friendship can stick itself up Bowser's – ARGHHHHHH!" While he was gloating, he hadn't been watching where he had been going, and tripped on a lone brick. He fell to the ground…and the bulb smashed. The entire room suddenly plummeted into darkness.

* * *

There was a very long silence.

"Er…oops?"

"WARIO! YOU IDIOT! WAIT TILL I GET MY HANDS ON YOU!" Mario bellowed. He'd had enough of the trickster; he tried summoning a fireball to give them a source of light, but found his firepower had run out. "I'LL GET YOU!" He walked and groped around in the darkness and felt something. "AHA! There you are!" He squeezed the something, which let out a squeal of pain.

"Oh…sorry Yoshi," he muttered, embarrassed as he let go of Yoshi's nose. He then felt a light tap on his shoulder. "What is it, Peach?"

"What? That wasn't me!" Peach's voice came some distance away. "What are you talking about?"

"Someone just tapped me on the shoulder…HEY! WARIO! ENOUGH ALREADY!"

"For the love of Poison Mushrooms, I didn't do it!" Wario's voice (which, to Mario's delight, had a touch of fear in it) also sounded distantly away.

"Then who – "

But Mario didn't need an answer. Suddenly, as if in a horror film, an eerie purple mist filled the room. But that wasn't the only thing. The four players soon found themselves surrounded by hundreds and hundreds of –

"BOOS!"

"RUN!"

The four tried to make a break for it, but the Boos were too fast for them. Immediately, giant hordes of Boos, all with big, evil grins and large eyes, swarmed and isolated the four terrified players as they were left to fend for themselves.

"YOSHI!" Yoshi panicked and tried to eat the Boos again, to no avail.

"Darn it! Why didn't I bring an emergency Fire Flower?!" Mario cursed under his breath, swinging his fists every which way at any Boos he could reach.

"Where's my Frying Pan?!" Peach screamed frantically, searching for her weapon.

"Alright, hang on! I know a good joke! Why did the ghost – ARGHHHHH!" Wario didn't get a chance to finish what would have otherwise been a really horrible joke, as all the Boos converged on their respective victims.

"YOSHI!" Yoshi yelled again in pain as the Boos took to pulling his nose in different directions.

"AHAHAHAHA! I'm sorry! I mean honestly, I really don't know what I did wrong, but PLEASE STOP!" Mario found himself laughing and squirming frantically as the mischievous Boos started tickling him.

"OWWWWW! My hair! And I just got it done last week at Shampoodle!" Peach whined; the Boos had ruined her new hairdo by yanking it, curling it, teasing it, and even eating it.

"HEY! WATCH THE STACHE! Alright, lemme finish my joke! The ghost crossed the road because – ARGH!" Wario's mustache was now being ruined by the Boos, who hadn't liked it in the first place. Soon all four were left helpless in their respective Boo siege, unable to find a way to escape.

Until…

"AHA!"

Suddenly, a small white figure appeared, carrying what looked like a flashlight and a portable vacuum. The Boos, stunned by the bright light, immediately stopped torturing their respective victims and attempted to flee. The newcomer turned his vacuum on, which inhaled most of the Boos out of sight; the others managed to escape. Powering down the machine, he turned to look at the four adventurers, all gasping for air and looking worse for the wear.

"Well, well, well…looks like I can still be of help!"

"E. Gadd?" Mario looked stunned. "How did you – "

"Oh, no need to thank me!" E. Gadd held up an arm. "Thank your princess, she called me in the first place!"

"But how – "

"I realized we haven't visited this minigame recently, so I figured the Boos might get a little restless," Peach explained. "It was also a failsafe in case SOMEONE ruined it all…" She looked pointedly at Wario, who shifted his feet uncomfortably.

"Look, I played your stupid minigame, alright?!" Wario said. "I didn't purposely try to sabotage it, I swear! But I can only stand so much of your ugly – I mean, LOVELY faces – ARGH!" He fled as Mario sprinted after him, the latter's face apparently intent on committing something worse than murder. The two jumped back into the Warp Pipe, with Peach following close behind to make sure Mario didn't get thrown in jail. E. Gadd and Yoshi stared after them.

"What a strange bunch of people…"

"…Yoshi."

* * *

_**A/N: Thanks for reading! Special credit to ashtione for suggesting the minigame! If you haven't already, please drop a review for this one and my other Mario Party fanfics. As always, if you've got a suggestion for a minigame, please leave it in the reviews or PM me. Thanks!**_


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